The Hunting
Prologue Ayrus force pulled his Lightsaber from the ground, quickly activating it, spinning backwards, and slicing a Stormtrooper's head off. Tara Kleig jumped from a building above, force pushing all Stormtroopers back, when she felt a sharp pain against her back. Tara fell to the ground, her expression showing pure fear. Ayrus gasped, and as he pushed back the remaining stormtroopers, he was thrust into the air, going flying into the side of a Coruscant building. But Ayrus' yacht, the Whispering Night, was nowhere to be found. It was at a refuel, unaware that the two Jedi were pinned down. Ayrus grabbed Tara's Lightsaber, and stabbed backwards. He was trapped in the narrow alleys. There were stormtroopers rushing from all sides. Time seemed to slow as they approached, yelling and screaming for the Jedi. Ayrus dropped the lightsabers, and held Tara in his arms, as she was drifting to death. Droid searcher units were rushing in, lazing the area with energy fields to pin the two in. But they didn't succeed, as a shadowed figure appeared. Four Stormtroopers went down with a shock of electricity. Then two Lightsabers activated, and swung with electricity alight on them. Ayrus watched as he tore apart the Imperial forces. A familiar ship lowered itself in the distance, along with a new one, belonging to the shadowed figure. After all the Imperials were cleared, the Mandalorian approached. Behind him were many shadowed figures. Two large groups of people. The Tan'dres Gang, and the figure's gang. Ayrus removed his helmet, the red highlights dyed blue, just recently, to accommodate Ayrus gaining of the Master armor. Ayrus smiled, his scars showing, as the man approached. "Thank you.", Ayrus stated. He waited for a reply as the mysterious figure stepped on a dieing Stormtrooper's neck killing him instantly, the figure removed the helmet with the force, the figure sighed. Ayrus noticed that the Stormtrooper was a Fett clone, they were becoming increasingly rare. Ayrus repeated his thank you this time getting the figure's attention. "Your welcome." he finally replied, "Just helping out a friend in need." Ayrus looked at the figure as he appeared into better light, he was in red R.I.S. Armor with various weapons attached. "What's your name friend?" Ayrus asked. "Sith-venator Wavingstrider." replied the figure. He helped Ayrus up, who carried Tara to the ship. Ayrus had a feeling the two were going to be good friends. Chapter 1: Sloppy "This is Raptor One, on patrol near the edge of the Hanging Valley. Anyone read?", the white-clad Stormtrooper noted, removing his snow-caked helmet. It was a Snowtrooper model of helmet, a heavily modified version of the normal Stormtrooper helmet, the entire top half of the helmet changed to accommodate cold atmosphere, the bottom half covered in waterproof, body heat containing material. And Raptor One hated it. He always removed his helmet, as it also restrained his view, the tiny eye-slits coated with ice, always fogging up. Cheap Imperials, he thought, also thinking that while the other troopers were on the frontlines, fighting with AT-ATs, Raptor was stuck doing patrols to make sure no Rebels came anywhere near. Raptor's eyes widened when he saw an unnatural object in the snow, on the edge of a rocky cliff, a piece of what used to be a natural road up to the valley. Raptor recognized the object from his childhood. The barrel of the Artillery gun from a Clone Wars era AT-TE. Raptor gasped, put on his helmet, and ran up the cliff face to a plateau, where his speeder was waiting. He boarded it, and threw a tracking beacon down into the valley. He started up the Speeder, and flew off to the distance, trying at his radio. "Damn thing. Never works here.", he mumbled to himself, navigating through the ice peaks, a series of pillars of ice, carved by the strong wind. A few minutes later, he found himself meeting another patrol. He decelerated, and stepped off his Speeder. The trooper was asleep inside an old Freeco speeder, A Twi'lek Databank still activated in the trooper's hand, showing a blue Twi'lek wearing only a series of brown leather straps, her rear end most visible. Raptor knocked on the windshield of the speeder, waking up the trooper, who quickly turned off the datapad. The trooper looked up, and opened the windshield. "Yes!?", he asked, panicky. Raptor smiled under the helmet. A sloppy Stormtrooper. "Does your radio work?", Raptor asked. The trooper nodded, and Raptor explained that he had found the AT-TE on the radio, while the troop looked in awe. Raptor One then took off towards Imperial Outpost C391, a newly put down campsite. Three hours later, Raptor arrived at the campsite, watching Imperial forces disembark towards the AT-TE's location. Raptor removed his helmet, and went to the longhouse, a makeshift barracks. He removed his helmet, and opened the tarp, walking in, the warm animal-skin room lit with an orange glow by a classic fire, wrapped in a safe fibroplast case, letting the heat out. Inside, were multiple troopers, wearing their undergarments, reading datapads, listening to radio signals being re-broadcast unto one of three Imperial campsites here on Hoth, watching vids on the datapads, watching battle holograms, or sleeping in their bunkbeds. There were two suitcases beside each bunk, filled with the armor and weapons of the troops. Raptor sat down in his bunk, where he was unluckily bunked with a grizzled clone, who had a large beard. He fell asleep, and dreamt of the Twi'lek he had seen on the datapad. Pathetic. Chapter 2 Ayrus looked up at his posse, his jaw dropping. An AT-TE had been found on Hoth. It was Sith-venator's. He had to tell him. Ayrus ran to the comm. Spies had reported to him that an AT-TE that most likely was owned by Venator was on Hoth. And he had to find it. Ayrus ran to the bridge, knocking his droid, Arcee, out of the way. "Venator, come in. This is important.", he said. Sith-venator walked out of the freshers in Civilian apparel, his hair was wet from a shower he had taken and his face was freshly shaved. "Why the frack do you call me Venator? Just call me Sith and what is it?" he said in a cranky mood as he had only woken up an hour ago. "Do you happen to own an old AT-TE do you?" asked Ayrus. "It was on sale." joked Sith-venator. Ayrus gave him a look so he gave a better reason. "Yes I do I got it cleared through Alliance command in case Echo Base was ever comprimised a Tank would help cover the evacuation." said Sith-venator. Ayrus replied "Well its been spotted by some Imps." "Imps are on Hoth?" asked Sith-venator. Ayrus nodded and Sith-venator sighed. "Ugg ok guys pack your bags your heading to Hoth, I'm not doing all the work myslef." Ayrus laughed, and spoke again. "I'll meet you there, then.", he stated, and turned off the comm, thinking about how Venator had just woken up.... He didn't approve of the name Sith. Venator was a Jedi, not a Sith. And a damn good one at that. Ayrus turned to his gang, and walked up to them. Kleig was in Ayrus' bedroom, asleep. Ayrus, in the main room of his armored, weaponed up Yacht, the Whispering Night, spoke. "We are going to Hoth. You all known Sith-Venator Wavingstrider? Hoth is under attack by Imperials, and Venator was hiding an AT-TE there to help evacuate Echo Base if it was take over by Imps. Idiots, aren't they? Well, the Imps found it. Some troop known as RT-1441, or Raptor One, found it. He was killed today by our rebel spies. Reed, set hyperspace coordinates for any of Hoth's moons. We're setting up shop there." Reed nodded, and ran off. Ayrus then went downstairs to his bedroom, and opened the door. Inside, it was dark. Tara Kleig was asleep on Ayrus' bed. It had been two years since he had met Venator. He remembered the blaster bolt that had nearly paralyzed Tara, millimeters from Tara's spine. He walked over to her, and kissed her on the forehead. She awoke, and smiled. Ayrus removed his robes, and lied down in the bed with her. He fell asleep, arms around Tara. Chapter 3: Well Now... Sith-venator strapped on his armor and inserted Juno's chip into the back of the helmet. "Do you know what time it is?" yawned Juno. "Hoth is being attacked Juno, no time for complaints." replied Sith-venator. "Odd you would think that Alliance Command would have told us. Oh wait our communications are jammed, that explains it." said Juno. Sith-venator opened the door in front of him only to find snow had caved in that part of the hall way of echo base. "Ugggggh..." moaned Sith-venator, he really hated work when he got R and R. He pulled out and ignited his flamethrower melting the snow rapidly. He ran through the hall way trying not to run over small droids. He ran into the hanger and yelled for someone to give him some information on the battle but non one answered. Everybody was gone but Chewbacca who was working on the Millenium Falcon. "Chewie!" yelled Sith-venator. Chewbacca looked up and smiled at the armored figure he had come to know as Sith-venator. Chewie grunted and growled something back that Juno translated as "Imperial Walkers are decimating the front lines." "Ok thanks man I owe you one!" said Sith-venator as he jumped on his AT-RT and rode towards his hidden AT-TE. Nearby, at the edge of the Hanging Valley, sat the AT-TE. There was a series of Imperial Speeders parked at the cliff, officers and troops, wearing armor decorated with red markings, stood, examining the barrel of the AT-TE. "Captain Blaine, we have not identified any sign that the AT-TE is booby trapped or aligned with Rebels. Maybe it was just-", an officer said, before one of the others, not wearing a helmet over his Snow gear, interrupted him. "Then we have to search i-", he said. But right then, his face showed a face of shear terror and pain, as he crumpled to the ground, a visible impact on his back. About a mile away, wrapped in a white cloak and snow gear, sat Ayrus' Ithorian sniper, Tarvok Wonn, with his special Ithorian rifle, equipped with a rare bolt suppressor, which would make the shot look and sound invisible. Tarvok grinned an Ithorian grin, as the officer bounced back, when he felt a tingling sensation as one of his troops flew by him and 200 feet into the valley below. As the officer turned around, he saw an explosion, as his speeder was destroyed. He was thrust back onto the side of the mountain, as he rolled down, his face battered by the pieces of ice. A Sullustan, a mile away to the east of the valley, had just detonated a bomb. Another of Ayrus' friends. But then everything stopped for the officer, as he expected his face to be crushed at the bottom of the valley. He was lifted into the air, his hat plummeting down through a small crack in the ice. Ayrus, clad in a black cloak, to disguise him, but still wearing his trademark Mandalorian helmet, walked up to the Officer. "Where is your outpost?", Ayrus asked calmly. The Imperial spat at him, and Ayrus threw him onto the ground, the officer slipping into the crack, almost falling down into the deep core of Hoth. But Ayrus pulled him up. "Tell me where, or I let go.", Ayrus stated. The Officer pulled out his blaster, but Ayrus used the force to slam him into the corner of the ice, breaking his teeth. "Where?", Ayrus asked, once more. "To the east... Coordinates on this datapad!", the officer stated, throwing Ayrus a datapad. Ayrus grabbed it, and let go. The officer screamed as he was dropped into the crack in the ice, falling down into the darkness. Ayrus used the force to jump back up, pulling out a blue Lightsaber. It was a gift from an old friend of his. Ayrus smiled at it, and stepped up, going unto his comm. "Sith, I have the coordinates for the outpost that the Imperials who know about the AT-TE are coming from. With all due respect, what the hell should I do?" Sith-venator's AT-RT aproached and he jumped off of it landing near Ayrus, "Well if you want you can take out that outpost, I don't care how you do it I just don't want those AT-ATs knowing theres about to be a Mass Driver up ther @$$ and turn around." Ayrus and his gang headed to the outpost while Sith-venator used his flamethrower yet again to clear ice and snow so he could get to the Cockpit of the old walker. He hopped into it once he could and filled the walker with electricity restarting it and melting the ice around it. "Juno you ready to kick some Imperial @$$?" "Sith you know I'm always ready for any kind of @$$ kicking. If I had a body I would even be kicking yours!" Juno joked. Sith-venator laughed and he piloted the walker towards the back of the Imperial attack force. Chapter 4: Where The Fun Begins Ayrus arrived at the outpost. It was cold outside, and the checkpoint guards were asleep. Ayrus had an idea. He had remembered how the Imperials had killed Ailyn. He had gotten revenge, but in his sarcastic humor, decided to show them one more thing. He grabbed his Lightsaber, and walked into the cafeteria, where a Stormtrooper was cleaning up the leftover plates. The trooper dropped his plate and napkin when Ayrus had walked in. In an instant, the trooper was pinned to a wall by the force. Ayrus walked up to him, and stabbed him in the stomach. Then Ayrus got a can of grease, and put it in a spray bottle of water. A makeshift flamethrower. Ayrus walked across the snow into the barracks, and saw quite a few troopers sleeping. He smiled, and lit the bunks on fire, walking out. He heard a muffled scream, as the highly flammable Wampa-skin tent caught on fire. Ayrus smiled to himself, got in his speeder, and raced off. The Sullustan had planted charges at the base, and just as the troops got out of range, he blew the charges. 50 miles from Echo Base, not a soul noticed the spectacular fireworks show. A wampa sniffed the air, looking for some prey, but before it could be found Sith-venator shot it with the AT-TE turning it into dust. "Was that really nessesary?" asked Juno. "No but it sure as hell was funny." replied Sith-venator laughing. It was not long before the AT-TE got within range of attacking the rear of the Imperial Army. "Juno man the mass driver." ordered Sith-venator. "Aye sir." she replied. A couple of squads of Snowtroopers noticed the approaching AT-TE. "Sarge look at that relic." said one of the Snowtroopers. "Frack you stormie." said Sith-venator as he fired the four anti-personal laser cannons at the squads. "Nothing beats the classics!" An approaching AT-ST immediantly got engulfed in an explosion as Juno fired the Mass Driver at it. "So far so good." said Juno. The AT-TE wreaked havoc at the back lines for several minutes even taking out an AT-AT in the process. But it wasnt long before the Imperials took notice. "Juno what is that in the sky?" asked Sith-venator. "TIE Bomber squadren! Get out I'll hold them off with the cannon." Sith-venator quickly opened the hatch and leaped out running as fast as he could. The AT-TE took out four of the five TIE Bombers but was unable to destroy the last one and it was able to drop a few proton torpedos upon the old walker destroying it instantly. Sith-venator turned around and with a lot of concentration pulled the TIE Bomber out of the sky and crashed it into a ravine. "AT-AT dead ahead Sith, want to take it out?" asked Juno. Sith-venator cracked his fingers and said, "Sure do." He ran again for a few moments and then when he got close to the collosul walker jumped up and climbed on top of it. Once at the top he walked upon the cockpit and let out a barrage of Force Lightning. After several seconds the pilots were all dead and the walker collapsed on the ground. Sith-venator walked away into the blizard back to his AT-RT, a minute later there was an explosion. Only one a damaged AT-AT can make. It was music to his ears. Ayrus and the rest of his gang, all Humans clad in Imperial snow gear, the others wearing typical Rebel gear, Ayrus wearing Darth Maul's black robes, rode in to the battlefield of Echo Base in arrow formation. Most of the speeders broke off, as they would appear as Imperial stormtroopers. Ayrus rode forward, straight towards an AT-AT, when he noticed an electric current flowing around it, the AT-AT eventually crumbling to the ground. Ayrus smiled, as that tactic belonged only to Sith-venator. He rode down the hill and into the large crater around Echo base, watching the AT-STs pouring on pain. Ayrus focused the force on one of two AT-STs, and lifted it up into the air, crushing the cockpit. Then the other AT-ST turned in confusion, when Ayrus slammed the first into it, destroying them both. When he stopped focusing on the AT-STs, he noticed his Speeder losing control as he flowed over an ice puddle. He felt himself twist, as his speeder skidded onto the ice, losing most of its hover. Then it started to roll, and Ayrus was kicked off, flying into the air. He landed safely in the snow, watching his speeder crash into a snow drift, melting it away in a spectacular explosion. Meanwhile, a group of Stormtroopers approached an AT-AT outside of Echo Base crater, and stopped by it. Reed got out of the speeder, Mort behind him, both pretending to be Stormtroopers. Tara was behind them. They walked up to the Officer on board. "What are you doing out of the battle, troopers?", he asked. Mort looked at Reed, who spoke. "We came to do an, er, inspection check. It appears there was a problem with this AT-AT a few days ago, uh.... A leak in the legs.... Heh." Luckily, the officer had no knowledge of vehicles, so he hesitantly nodded, and let the two troopers through. Tara looked at the officer. He smiled awkwardly, and Tara under the masculine armor, nodded. The two others boarded the AT-AT, and inside, the pilot was reading a datapad on Rodian anatomy. His co-pilot was asleep. The two gunners were reading more Twi'lek datapads. There was two gunshots, and the pilot and co-pilot turned around. They were shot instantly. Reed and Mort hit two buttons, and put opened the fuel cell. Reed through a bottle down below, and it blew up. Outside, the officer's jaw dropped. He looked back at Tara, and raised his weapon, but he was thrust into the air with the force, and slammed against the burning hot AT-AT. Reed and Mort jumped out, running back to the speeders as the AT-AT exploded. The three sped off, to meet up with the others and help evacuate Echo Base. Chapter 5: Intentions Revealed Ayrus ran into Echo Base, diving into the snow as someone on the comms stated- "Fourth transport is away. Fourth transport is away!" Ayrus ran inside, shaking snow off of his robes. He ran up to find Rebels fleeing into the tunnels. Ayrus ran through the ice tunnels, finding three Snowtroopers shooting down a hole. Ayrus hesitated for a moment, wondering if they were his allies, but then one turned and fired at him. Then three more Snowtroopers came out of the tunnel. The three that had just arrived shot the three Ayrus was facing. The three removed their helmets. Reed, Tara, and Mort. Ayrus spoke to them for a moment, as snow crumbled in from the fight outside. Princess Leia, then Han Solo ran by, not taking a moment to notice that the three Rebels were in Imperial gear. Then came C-3P0, yelling to wait for him. A few meters behind 3P0 came Tarvok, the Ithorian, the Sullustan, Soi Sobb, and a few other members of Ayrus' gang ran out. Ayrus motioned the gang to follow him, running back to the spaceport, as the Millennium Falcon flew off. Approaching from the other door was Darth Vader. "Let's go!", he yelled, as the Whispering Night pulled into the Starport. The three Imperials started to fire blaster bolts at the Snowtroopers, Tarvok pulling out what appeared to be a Wookiee Crossbow. He chambered an explosive arrow, lit it on fire, and shot it at Vader. He underestimated Vader's strength. Vader sent the shot back, but Ayrus held it with the force, also holding in mid-air the blaster shots coming at him, as they would slow down, appearing as though time was stopping as they hit Ayrus' force barrier. Vader instantly recognized the helmet. But Ayrus' plan had worked. He had distracted Vader and held back the other Snowtrooper's shots as the rebels had boarded the Yacht. The group piled inside, the ship taking off, flying at slow speed. As the ship got higher, Ayrus let the shots ring out, the crossbow exploding, as he ran to the ship, force jumping aboard it, and saluting Vader sarcastically as he took off into the horizon. Ayrus and the others took formation, as Ayrus spoke. "We've got to aid those transports!", he yelled, Gistren taking the helm, Soi Sobb co-pilot. The others manned the guns, as Ayrus stood behind the two pilots. He then took control, leading the yacht towards Transport 6. But Ayrus was sensing something. Not Sith-venator, not Vader.... Something else. The presence of confidence. The Empire was hiding something. But right now, he had to focus on getting the last transport out of the area. Ayrus then felt the urge to pilot the ship, knocking Reed out of the way. He flew up right under the transport, and as soon as he exited the atmosphere, three TIE Fighters approached. Krow, the Wookiee, was up in the top cabin, firing the mass driver at them. It exploded when it impacted the middle fighter, the debris hitting the others, causing them to spin out of control. X-Wings fought TIE fighters, the shield lowering as Vader took it out. Ayrus spread the Yacht farther from the transport. Krow fired the Mass driver at an oncoming group of bombers, wiping them out. Ayrus closed his eyes, willing the force to take him. He started in front of the transport, as he could feel every shot, every explosion around him, on the Yacht, and on the transport. He heard something on the comm. "We are ready to make the jump, General." Ayrus smiled. "Take it!", he yelled, swerving the ship downwards, as the escort jumped into hyperspace. Ayrus smiled, but turned the ship around. Sith-venator and the others were still down there. It was time to help the stragglers. Sith-venator ran across the frozen plains of Hoth looking for his AT-RT. "Here AT-RT, come on boy!" yelled Sith-venator sarcasticly as he patted his legs. "I cannot believe you lost it." commented Juno "We are not even done paying off that thing!" "Shut up I know where it is!" replied Sith-venator. "No you don't I am ordering Serenity to this location." said Juno. Just then though the blizard stopped and Sith-venator noticed a large group of people. He was on top of a large hill and ducked into cover by instinct. Category:EliteMaster117 Category:Sith Venator Category:Books